Picker lines comprising a plurality of pickers at packaging machines (e.g. thermoform packaging machines) are known in practice. The products to be fed in are here supplied on a feed belt parallel to the infeed line of the thermoform packaging machine, the conveying direction of the products corresponding to the conveying direction of the thermoform packaging machine (i.e., the products are supplied in the same direction). Before the products arrive in the picker area, they are optically detected by a vision system so as to detect the position and the orientation of each individual product and transmit this information to the control unit. The individual pickers receive the information on the position of the individual products on the feed belt via the control unit or directly from the vision system. Via a predetermined logic, the pickers pick up the products from the feed belt and place them into packaging troughs in the thermoform packaging machine. The aim to be achieved is that, at the end of the feed belt or after the last picker, all products have been picked up and fed in and that all packaging troughs will be filled before they are sealed with a cover film in a sealing station downstream of the infeed line. When feeding takes place in the same direction, the last picker must finally achieve this aim alone.
The following problem may here arise: only a small number of products, which may be spaced apart at large distances, are available on the feed belt for the last picker and a significantly higher number of troughs that are still to be filled may be located in said picker's infeed area. In this case it is impossible to fill all the troughs or packages with products. In order to avoid this problem in practice, more products than necessary are normally supplied on the feed belt so that the last picker will always have a sufficient number of products at its disposal for allowing a 100% of the packaging troughs to be filled. Surplus products are discharged at the end of the feed belt and resupplied to the feed belt by hand or via an additional feed belt in the area upstream of the picker line.